Week 5 Marathon Training Completed

Finally a good week. My myriad injuries from July appear to be fading and the legs are feeling stronger than they have in a month. I posted 36 miles for Week 5, although the pace was still a bit slower on average than I would like it to be (about 8:10 a mile overall). I also was able to put in 10 miles on Sunday - my first real distance run since June.

I am encouraged that things are getting back on track and I look forward to putting in another solid week this week in terms of mileage and improving on my speed - trying to get to that 7:30 and under average for the long distance runs. I am still on pace for the Emerald City Half Marathon on 24 August - counting that as a training race and my distance run for the week.

Over the many years running I've come to the firm conclusion that the mental aspect of our sport is about 75% - at least. The physical sort of takes care of itself, but the constant dealing with injuries, soreness, fatigue, the weather, and any number of other issues that come up unexpectedly is the real challenge. Reading others' posts, it seems that there are those fortunate few who seem to glide effortlessly through their training and every day is a great day. However, I suspect that for most of us mortals the psychological battle to keep going, to work harder, to run when you just don't feel like it, and to keep pushing even though injuries may set you back is the real fight. Overcoming those issues, I've found, is what really produces the results in the end.

I must say, though, it would be nice to have a stretch where I felt a bit immortal!

Good thoughts. I think it's natural for most of us to push ourselves to the limit in our training, and it's impossible to know what pushes us over that limit and get injured. So it's: push hard to get better, but take it easy so you can get to the starting line uninjured. Tough balance.

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